The benefits of ethics in encouraging growth in corporate

Ethics can be summarily defined as a society's presumptions on what is deemed acceptable or improper. There are dos and don'ts in business settings that are utilized to facilitate the successful implementation of a company's goal and vision. Sustainable economic growth is built on ethics. When workers embody a solid ethical foundation, they positively influence decision-making, and the resulting behaviors promote sustainability.
Corporate ethics is the study of moral issues or ethical principles that are prevalent in a business setting and are explored by professional or applied ethics. It involves ongoing deliberation of the foundational link between ethical values, which have been laid down. Kirk O. Hanson believes that the process of studying the standards of behavior in business is a tool to promote the welfare of human beings.

What qualifies something to be a business in the first place is the ability to make a profit out of the activities, carried out at the workplace. The shareholders table the profits mainly not how ethical the institution whereas the customers want good services and products at a lower price. This leaves the institution in a dilemma of whether to throw the ethics out of the window and give each party. Ethics most of the time will get into conflict with the business core reason to maximise profit. Nevertheless, we have seen institutions go out of their way to build up a social image. Social image for any institution is everything as it is what the consumers run the business world with, their judgment of what any given institution stands for.

The perception that a company is unethical and corrupt can lead to nightmares for the company in terms of public relations. For this reason, many companies are out to engage in activities of social responsibility programs or even works of charity to enable them to increase the chances of having a positive image. A company known to have a positive image is headed for success whereas one whose reputation is questionable or its employees are considered corrupt then the company suffers so much loses and is headed towards its downfall. Research shows that customers are more at ease knowing that a company uses an ethical and responsible way to gather their materials and even labor to produce the goods and services they purchase from them.

It is common for a customer to completely lose taste in a favorite product because of a scandal going on in the news about the company that produces that product. Therefore, ethics are a building block to the success of a company. See for instance the coffee pickers go on work strike that they are being underpaid by company X and that it has been deforesting the area as it goes on with the process of picking raw beans. Company X is likely to fall out of the market because of people for one another not because they know each other but because it is human nature to care. This is followed by the withdrawal from the company’s products which gives the competing companies an upper hand even without lifting a finger. This is a good example why business ethics are fundamental to any institution.

Corporate social responsibility and the general ethical behavior of a company can bring countless significant benefits to the business. When a company sells its name as an ethical company, then it sells its products at the same time. Customers are at a higher rate attracted to that kind of firm’s products which will boost the profits because of the increase in sales. We cannot underestimate the importance of employees wanting to stay with a firm. Every employer should aim at the employees wanting to stay with the firm and staying with the firm for a long time. This is because when employees stay, then there is a reduction in labor turnover which is a guarantee to increased productivity and sustainability of good produce. The productivity of a firm should be stable and maintained at a good rate. When ethical behaviors creep into the culture of an organization, then the productivity is affected. The focus of employees is disrupted by unethical behaviors in the workplace and also unhealthy company practices.

When a firm is ethical, then the employees have an assurance that they work for a company that has a stand when it comes to business ethics. Therefore, the workers are comfortable knowing that they are not by their actions at work carrying out unethical practices. Another positive outcome that could arise from employees’ satisfaction with the moral base of an organization is that more employees will want to work for that company. This helps the company reduce the cost of recruitment and due to the wide range of choices the company is assured of having nothing short of the most talented and equipped employees. On an individual level, an employee who is ethical enhances his/her chances of maintaining the job and even climbing up the promotional ladder which comes with better pay thus personal success.

Every investor out there wants a company that has a positive outlook and is believed to be ethical. With this in mind then every company will uphold its moral standards because if they are high enough, then they will attract investors. This ensures that the firm’s share price is kept high which protects the takeover of the business. Investors have peace of mind knowing that the company they deal with has made a promise and stated their morals to work ethically and responsibly. Therefore, they are sure that their money is being utilized in a way that is line with their moral standing. One owns what they can identify with if a corrupt company advertises its shares people who have an upright moral standing will not want anything to do with it, but a good company will have overflowing investors to choose from. It is a guarantee that the investors will stay therefore long-term relationships are formed on the bases of positive ethical behavior.

As it is a public truth that knowing what to be done and doing it is a different scenario. All companies know that the upholding of ethics is fundamental to their growth and even their sustainability in the market. The stakes in the market are now really high people want to make a profit, and the competition is stiff. Therefore, businesses may feel the pressure to go the unethical way to maximise the profits. Businesses may choose to do things that are beneath them like badmouthing competitors, lying to customers or even undermining employees as long as it produces results. These behaviors can cost the company a whole lot because they can get into legal problems with the government and also fall out of the market due to consumer withdrawal. Therefore, it is important for business leaders to take a stand when it comes to the moral and ethical standing of any business.

Michael Josephson, the founder of a non-profit organization in Los Angeles which delivers services and materials for the increment of awareness on ethics, offers tips which business leaders can use to enhance ethical culture at the workplace. Clarity of what is expected is key because the employees get to learn what exactly one means behaving ethically there is no shortcut other than writing down the expectation of the company. The leader should include the expectations which concern ethical decision making. This could be done in the company’s employees’ handbook or any other documentation that the employees are given on their first days at the workplace. It is not enough to just map out the behavior that is expected of the employees. A leader is supposed to give out guidelines that those help employees to make ethical decisions when faced with that challenge. Establish a culture of teamwork and healthy respect that can allow workers to ask for guidance from their managers and even reporting of any unethical behavior the employees see at the workplace.

Josephson advice leaders to take a second step after laying out what is expected and go further and enforce the policies. The employees should know that there are consequences when they perform an act of ethical breach. If one commits a breech ethically and goes unpunished for his/ her actions then the leader is not only tolerating the behavior but also telling others that it is okay to behave unethically which now becomes a practice of the company and a culture of unethical behavior is founded.

It has been said time and again be the change you want, and that change starts with you. Even if a leader laid the best ethical policies in the world if he doesn’t walk his talk, then the policies won’t succeed. The employees look up to their leader for cues about how they are expected to behave morally. It is therefore important for the leader to cut ethical corners which will be noticed by the employees and think the behavior is the right one. It is true that the cost of instilling ethics is way expensive for an organization says, Josephson. Being a model citizen and reining in behavior while ensuring that your business earn is an uphill task. With all that in mind, one should consider that even if the cost is too high the cost of ethical lapse will be much greater for the damage will cause the business its earnings which they were protecting in the first place. Therefore, analysing with a futuristic mind; it’s better to lay off one unethical employee and drop some business habits than to pay an extremely high cost in the future for negligence.

Each company has assets depending on its size and when it began and how successful it has been. One of the most valuable assets of a company is its reputation and that being said it is also the most difficult to rebuild should it be lost. It is sad but true if a company messes up like for instance a school which is in the business of producing students with good results is accused of malpractice the reputation remains so forever. When that school does well what comes into the minds of the people is that it did the malpractice again. Therefore, if an organization has a good reputation, it should work as hard as possible to maintain it at that because building it back up to where it was the most difficult and expensive things that the organization will painfully have to undergo.

Ethics involves the integration of ethical questions in the process of carrying out intellectual work. It is important for any organization to ask questions of how any decision will affect the society that surrounds it. Therefore, anyone who is in the position of power should be careful to identify and assess the situations that can be argued ethically with a variety of ethical positions. Ethics streams all the way from having the wisdom to temperance, transcendence, the act of being human and even courage are strong values that employees should possess to be successful in whatever they do.

If an organization narrows down its whole focus to the financial statement for the institution to be successful, then that institution is headed for its downfall. This is to say that there are so many other factors that are directly and indirectly linked to the success of any organization that is far off the scope of financial statements. If you want long-term success and considering a bright future for the organization then one should build a strong foundation of ethical behavior in their organization which ends up being a company culture. This is a serious process which the company should put as much seriousness to uphold. Things like a team that looks over the company’s ethics should be put in place so that they set the tone on how they are run around the company on an everyday basis.

The culture of a company has several factors that play a major role in the culture build up. One is based on all the mannerism of the employees and again the leader of the organization. When a new employee comes into an organization, he or she is given a workbook with directions, but in the real sense they automatically follow what others are doing, and this is what the organizational culture consists of. Workers who find a good ethical culture will want to stay to be associated with the good produce and a good reputation of the company. This will increase the productivity of the company. However, if the company is corrupted, then an employee will want to leave and look to work for a company, which stands for what he or she believes in.

The prevailing management should have a philosophy that is based on behaviors and practices that are ethical. This helps the leader within the organization in directing the employees by guidance and example which assist in making decisions that will not only be beneficial to the specific individual employee but beneficial to the organization as a whole. The importance of operating on ethical grounds has tremendous importance. One the company can run smoothly because a stronger bond is built from to bottom that is among the individuals on the management team and thus creating unshaken stability within the organization. There are long-lasting effects on any organization that steps on an ethical foundation. The organization can fish and retain highly talented personnel for itself which is a sure way to build and maintain a positive reputation within the community that the organization operates amongst.

Research has given so much credit to business ethics for growing the corporate. One cannot begin to measure the benefits of business ethics. They boost the morale of the employees at work, the loyalty of the employee is with the organization and a bond that strengthens the management team is borne. Now more than ever the area of social responsibility and ethical investment has grown therefore companies have more and more an incentive to be ethical. Again, now the number of investors who are seeking to invest in ethically operating companies to invest has largely increased. This has raised a drive by the companies to take the issue of business ethics more seriously. For it has been tested and proven that if an organization’s reputation is less than perfect on the bases of how it is perceived in regard to its operations, then the likelihood of investors being less inclined to support or buy stock from such operators is very low.

Business ethics to a large extent to determine the corporate growth of any institution. As stated earlier business ethics impact positively in the reduction of the cases of unethical behaviors like fraud cases, theft, corruption and also the mismanagement of funds by an employee. Therefore, adoption of ethics in business by bodies that are corporates enhances corporate growth is of great interest to the stakeholders of the corporate.

In conclusion, we can assert with confidence that there is a positive correlation between business ethics and corporate growth. Though we can award all the credit to ethics for the success of the business, we can say that it plays a major role in the success of the business. It is important then that the organizational structure and culture are aligned with the business ethical code adoption so that corporate growth is assured as the objectives of the business are well met. It is safe to say that business ethics help in guarding both individual employees and also the corporate entities in building a place of trust in the hearts of the stakeholders and is fundamental in addressing ethical issues that are confronting business entities. Ethics in business are known to integrate some core values like honesty, respect, trust, and fairness into strategic management, practicing management, decision making and policy making.

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